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Minnesota mother charged after toddler falls out of car

A driver behind the car caught the incident on dashcam footage.
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A Minnesota mother is facing a child endangerment charge Friday after her toddler fell from the back of her car still strapped into a car seat.

Maimuna Hassan, 40, was charged with gross misdemeanor child endangerment, according to a criminal complaint filed in the Blue Earth County District Court.

Hassan was driving in Mankato on Monday when the driver behind her was shocked to see a child tumble out of the back seat of her car and on to the street. The child, who the complaint says is about 2 years old, was uninjured.

Chad Cheddar Mock recorded dashcam footage of the incident and shared it on Facebook.

In the footage, the rear passenger door of Hassan's car flings open as it is going around a bend and a child fastened in a car seat falls to the ground.

The child was properly fastened into the seat, but the seat was not fastened to the car, according to the Mankato Department of Public Safety.

Hassan told police through a translator that she parked her car and walked back to where the child was when she noticed the child had fallen out, according to police.

She said the child's seat was fastened in the back seat, but the toddler must have unfastened it, according to the complaint. But police did not find a strap in the car to secure the seat.

The complaint said that when Hassan returned to retrieve the child, she and another child she had with her were "crying and upset."

"The defendant went up to the child occupied in the car seat and hugged the child," the criminal complaint said.

Hassan only had a driving permit, not a license, and was also charged with a misdemeanor driving with only a permit and another because the car seat was not fastened, police said.

A spokeswoman for the Blue Earth County District Court said Friday that Hassan had not been detained. The child endangerment charge carries a sentence of up to a year, while the two lesser charges carry sentences of 90 days each.